From the First
by Webberfish
Summary: Life is a series of events but everything you experience had to begin somewhere. If you're lucky, you get to have someone with you on your exploration of firsts. Jinx & Kid Flash Pairing
1. First : Sleepover

**I probably shouldn't be starting anything new but there you go. A certain speedster is darting through my mind, he's carrying around his girlfriend and they demand to be written about. **

**The premise of this story is day-to-day life between Kid Flash and Jinx, specifically showing all the "firsts" in Jinx`s life now that she`s turned her back on crime. Some of them are silly, other dramatic, fluffy or angsty. Pretty much whatever I feel like. This will be a series, but I'm not sure how many in total. Hope you enjoy!**

**Disclaimer: I wish I owned these characters but I do not, so don't sue me. :) **

* * *

"Well, that's new." Wally blinked, staring at his girlfriend. She had scoured the apartment and collected every pillow and blanket, bundling them into a giant nest in the middle of the living room floor. He even saw the plaid duvet off their bed. Jinx had pushed aside the coffee table and chucked his game system back inside the entertainment unit where it belonged (but never managed to live to her continuing displeasure). She was sleeping, one arm curled under her cheek, the other cuddling her sketchbook pen still in hand.

She looked absolutely adorable, he even saw _drool_.

Wally darted quickly to their bedroom, changing out of his Kid Flash costume and into his house clothes in less then two seconds. He returned to her side, dropping on one knee, pushing long strands of pink hair off her cheek.

She hadn't moved a muscle. He'd caught her segment on the news running by an electronic store earlier in the evening on his patrol. Jinx had an afternoon of playing tag with Heat Wave while he answered a back-up call from Robin in Jump City. He'd only just zipped back across the mid-west.

"You're going to hurt your back sleeping on the floor, slowpoke." He moved aside her sketchbook, wrestling her pen out of her exceptionally strong grip, slipping a quick kiss to her ink stained fingers. Sleepy pink eyes blinked open.

"Hey Wally," Jinx said with a yawn.

Wally smiled back. "Hey beautiful. What are you doing on the floor?"

She didn't answer. Instead her arm reached out, curling about his neck and pulling him down to her level meeting her lips with his. He kissed her sweetly, not noticing her sneaky fingers go to the draw-string of his sweat pants. Jinx pulled with a yank, drawing him off balance and making him fall into her pile of cushions. Wally laughed, finding a comfortable spot with a wiggle. He shot her one of his best 'Oh-you!-but-secretly-loving-it' expressions but Jinx just rolled her eyes.

"You could have just asked me to lie down with you."

"That's no fun." He yelped, her cold fingers finding purchase underneath his t-shirt. "I was sketching."

"I saw. You didn't finish though."

"I was losing the light." she explained, the pinned drapes suddenly having purpose.

"Want me to take you to bed?"

Within a minute he could have her tucked in, the living room clean and spotless the way she liked it. It was nothing for his superspeed.

"Let's sleep here." Jinx said, rolling closer, her cheek resting on his chest. For all the complications of their lives, the superhero costumes, the duel identities, the day-to-day struggle to not get pounded into street pizza, life at home was pretty simple. As soon as they walked into this apartment they were only Wally and Linda in their own corner of the world. "I want to feel it when the sun comes up."

Wally's arm automatically curled around her, his naked feet burying into the crevice between her calf muscles. "I've had worse." It definitely wasn't too bad. With the layers she'd fortified he couldn't feel the hard floor underneath him. Not that he cared much, his girl was still close at hand either way.

Wally West was just on the edge of sleep, lulled there by the lazy way her cold fingers were dragging up and down his abs.

"Hey Wally,"

"Hhhmm..."

Pink eyes found his baby blues in the darkness.

"I've never had a sleepover before. Do you think this counts?"

He kissed her temple, burying his nose in the sweet scent of her freshly washed hair.

"It counts. Days like today always count."


	2. First : Gift

**Disclaimer: Still don't own this pairing, such a shame. **

* * *

It's the first time in her life she's ever wanted to get someone a present and Jinx doesn't know where to start.

What do you get someone like Wally? He's a boy but doesn't have the ability to pay attention to anything for more then thirty-four seconds before getting bored. She immediately knocks out any electronics. They have a tendency to blow up around her anyway, they've already had to replace the dvd player twice. She refuses to go down the route of clothing, even being a novice at this she knows it's lame.

_'What says -hey, happy birthday! Oh! Thanks for saving my life, you know, all the old crowd is currently frozen and that's not the best look for me, so good timing. Here's some crap-' that won't make me look like a total idiot?!' _Jinx laments kicking a soda can out of frustration. The 7-green can hits the back calf of a random man ahead of her on the sidewalk. He snaps back around to glare at her but Jinx's returning death stare makes him awkwardly slip into a nearby store to avoid the promise of death.

She's been wandering around Keystone City for the better part of four hours, been inside more malls today then the past five years, even resigning herself to combing through booths at a nearby public market. She's still empty handed and her money is burning a hole in her wallet.

He didn't seem to _want_ anything. Well, except for food.

Their apartment is comfortable but hardly luxurious, his personal style is unassuming and casual. He can't stand to wear watches or jewelry and he turns his nose up at clutter.

_'Why do I care so much about this anyway? If I get him take-out Chinese he'll be more then satisfied.'_

Except Jinx wanted it to be perfect. Everything in her life is addressed with complete focus and absolute control. She wants to be the best gift giver too. In fact, she wants Wally to fall to his knees in awed gratitude at her divine powers of finding him the perfect thing.

"Shit." People give her strange looks on the sidewalk. She's always been made to stick out. The bright pink colouring, the grey skin, not even the addition of the yellow belt and Titan communicator keeps the questioning, somewhat mistrustful looks away. She's only been a 'hero' for the past six months, and while public opinion of her is getting better there's some devote super followers who remember her days of robbing museums and blowing up cars. Jinx barely has the instinct to scream 'boo!' and watch civilians scatter anymore. "Oh. Blow off."

A tell-tale gust of wind picks up the loose strands of her hair and Jinx blinks.

"Hey, slow-poke." Kid Flash is in front of her out of the blue, blinding her with his bright costume and sunny smile. He's walking backwards, effortlessly dancing between people and objects as they continue up the street. Jinx's lips twitch. He's such a show-off. "Whacha doing?"

"I told you to leave me alone today. I'm doing something." She tells him, not as angry as she would have been had she found what she'd been looking for. Jinx doesn't like surprises but she'll be damned if he's going to run her glorious moment come next week on his birthday.

"Looks like moping to me." Kid Flash vanishes but it's only for a moment, before she can blink he's back. He's holding out a bright red rose. "Cheer up pretty lady."

Jinx takes his flower, giving him a small smile. Suddenly an idea shoots through her like lightning, and she gasps aloud calling his name.

"What? What is it?" Kid Flash looks around them comically, ignoring the cult following he's attracting from the citizens of Keystone City. They all adore the ground he runs on. There's more then one pretty girl giving the mistress of misfortune heated stares of outward envy. It's no secret they're a couple as well as partners. Jinx doesn't feel her normal feeling of smug pleasure, she's too busy scheming. "What did I miss?"

"I'm not telling!" Jinx says with delight, grabbing him by the lightning bolt on his chest. She smacks him with a kiss, drawn out and excited, feeling his warmth of his body close to her. Kid Flash hums against her mouth, leaning closer to deepen his surprise kiss. "Okay, Kid. I gotta run." Jinx grins, pushing him away without a second thought the moment his tongue licked her bottom lip. The teen crime fighter turned on her platforms and ran in the opposite direction, not sparing him a single glance. She's holding his rose to her chest.

Kid Flash only blinks, his cheeks flushed, watching her dart around a corner and out of his sight. When he speaks, it's with a heartsick tone of wonder.

"That's my line."

* * *

A week later there's a big party at the T-Tower in Jump City and all the Titans are there. The main living room is decorated with yellow streamers and red balloons, there's even a disco ball shaped like a lightning bolt hanging directly over the couch. Kid Flash spends the night laughing with his friends. He's having a great time, it's not very often that all the Titans can show up in one room and he's honored it's for _his_ birthday.

He even manages to get Raven to dance with him, though when he gets a little violent with the hip shaking she teleports him straight into the bay. He shows up only a moment later, dripping wet and smiling. Everyone laughs. Well, almost everyone.

As much fun as he's having, he hasn't seen more then a glimpse of Jinx all night. He keeps looking for her trade-mark pink hair or low-key chuckle but it seems _everybody_ is always in the way.

When Starfire lowers some kind of oozing blue goo he thinks might be a birthday cake (there's candles in it) Jinx is behind her, rolling her eyes. His girlfriend puts a giant sheet cake from one of his favorite bakeries next to Star's attempt at human culture, but when he moves to grab her she slips away. Spotty is at his side all at once, and Kid Flash gets distracted trying to save his sheet cake. Robin's the only one who tries Starfire's, so Kid Flash gets to eat all that one by himself. He barely chokes on the sprigs of Rosemary.

Finally, after the assortment of gifts are opened, BB makes his rounds with his camera. Taking photos of Starfire twirling Robin six feet off the ground as if he's made of cardboard, Argent shooting plasma arrows at Speedy every time he tries to flirt with her. Cyborg does the best rendition of the robot Kid Flash has ever seen (Although he's got an unfair advantage) but there's still no Jinx. As much of a good time he's having, when the Titans start retiring getting The Harold to teleport them all back to their bases he's ready to go home. It's after eleven and he hasn't even gotten a birthday kiss.

In fact, he hasn't seen Jinx all week. She'd been locked up in the spare room of their apartment. It was once her bedroom but it didn't take her long to move into his room with him, to his delight. She called that other room her studio these days and it was strictly off limit to speedsters.

_'I'm working on something private! If I catch you in here when I'm gone, I'll hex every freckle off your body. ' _She closed the door in his face time after time each time he came knocking. She even asked him to cover for her on patrol. Hell, Jinx even slept in there. _'This is really important! It's just till next week. So stop whining, I'll make it up to you.'_

His nemesis had become a wooden door.

"Ready to go home, Kid?" Jinx is at his side, holding onto his elbow. The relief is like a wave, it's the first time she's touched him since that kiss last week on the street. He can't help leaning into her, brushing his nose against the cool skin of her forehead. He's recently gone through a growth spurt and is several inches taller, she matches up perfectly for cuddling. Jinx smirks, pinching his arm. "Come on birthday boy."

They both wave goodbye to the remaining Titans, and he gathers her up in his arms. She's so light he barely notices, even when they run at hyper speed back to Keystone City.

"You've been ignoring me." he pouts as he lets her down in the middle of their living room. "My birthday is almost over." He expects some kind of retort but instead he gets a dark blush. It excites Kid Flash in a way that fighting bad guys never has.

"I got you a present." Jinx says softly. "I didn't forget."

"You didn't have to do that, Jinx. You're a gift all by yourself." She scoffs, but can see how happy her big pink eyes are. She seems a little nervous too, as she grabs his hand and leads him down the hallway. They stop in front of his arch-enemy, the white wood still closed.

"Close your eyes, flirt. I want it to be a surprise."

Kid Flash closes his eyes, his heart fluttering as her small hands take both of his gloved ones and lead him into the forbidden room. He has to fight every impulse to snap open his eyes, he's not patient. She lets go of his hands, squeezing them once before she does. He hears fiddling, the snap of the light switch and his eyelids burn red.

"Okay, hold on. I'm getting the lights. Wally, you can open them."

All he sees is red.

On every wall, propped up against all the furniture, sitting on various easels are paintings. Some of big, some smaller, there's one that's barely the size of his palm. He recognizes oil paint, water color, pencils, ink and charcoal, the one in the corner looks like paper. There's at least a dozen, all in a different style of work. Realistic, impressionist, even a pop art one with a soup-can. The only thread is that each and every one of them are images of red roses.

He's stunned. Kid Flash can't remember ever being speechless before, but he is now. Red roses are more then just flowers. They are to him, and they are to her. The first time he ever laid eyes on her, he leaves a red rose in place of stolen property.

_'You're worth seeing.'_

Number 11 appears in her left horn a month after Madam Rouge. She claims the hex was involuntary because Billy Numerous had been stressing her out. Kid Flash knows the shifting, trembling concrete was the only thing that stopped a bike messenger from getting hit by a speeding driver who blew through a red light.

_'I believe in you.'_

Rose 23 shows up in her hand the day she knocks on his door in Keystone City, telling him about her abandonment of the HIVE. He's never been so proud of her, or of anybody. He takes her hand and leads her inside the house.

_'I trust you.'_

"...Jinx..."

She can't touch flowers for more then a few minutes without them disintegrating, it's part of her bad-luck. But he always brings her more when they wilt because he never runs out of reasons. Besides she always smiles, even if they're small.

Today Jinx gives him roses that won't die. Ones she's made with her own two hands.

"I couldn't get some of the paint off." she fills the silence with nervous chatter, wiggling her fingers. Her pale grey skin is red at the fingertips. "So I avoided you at the party. I didn't want to give away the surprise." Wally is still speechless, his eyes roaming across paper petals of an origami bouquet sitting on the corner of her desk.

"This is the best gift I've ever gotten."

To most people they're just flowers. Pretty, but superficial. Even a means of apology, a throw away. To Kid Flash every bloom she's ever received has been secret words she wasn't ready to hear out loud.

A rose the day she's saved him from Madam Rouge.

_'You saved my life. I won't forget it. I won't forget about __**you**_.'

He leaves one on her bathroom sink when she still lives in sector four.

_'You're hurting, but I'm still here.'_

Another on her pillow the morning she starts her very first patrol.

_'I'm proud of you.'_

She gets his messages. She understands. So in return she gives him roses.

"Happy Birthday, Wally."

_**'I love you too, idiot.'**_


	3. First : Doubt

**Standard Disclaimer - I own nothing belonging to the Teen Titans but I wish I did. This pairing would have gotten more then 25 minutes of screen time.**

I'd like to thank everybody for the reviews! It really means a lot to hear feedback from people who are interested in my writing. I'd be lying if I said it didn't make my day. Please continue to do so if it floats your boat, you'll keep me sailing.

* * *

She was beautiful.

Then again, they were _always_ beautiful. Thin, willowy, short, curvy with long thin faces, cute noses, big eyes, full lips, redhead's, brunettes, light, dark or olive skinned. He had no standard, except in some way there was always a stunning feature, and more then likely a returning look of admiration.

Jinx wasn't surprised, wasn't shocked or even outraged. She had been Kid Flash's girlfriend since they were teenagers and had been watching his flirtations with anything female practically every day since. When she seventeen she use to rant and rage, and show him how much she disapproved with her hexes and fury. He claimed to love her, but couldn't lay of other ladies even if his life depended on it. Even though she knew he wasn't sleeping around (Wally West was much too noble for that) the image of his roses in the hands of other women might as well have been a nuclear warhead to her heart.

Except now they weren't kids anymore. Jinx didn't throw tantrums. She didn't hex his clothes to catch fire or destroy his property. He didn't sleep on the couch, or get kicked to the curb to mope at the charity of his uncle when she caught him on an news spot kissing a pretty journalist in his post-victory swagger. She didn't really confront him at all about it, not anymore. Instead, the mistress of misfortune simply watched.

This one however, stood out as some kind of gem even amongst the other precious stones. Long and thick hair in a rich honey blonde, a confident face and eyes the colour of slate. Her skin was a dark, rich olive and Jinx couldn't tell _what_, but there was something Asian about the exotic slope of her eyes. Jinx could see long expands of her toned, athletic body. She was wearing tight leather pants and a cropped top in forest green that left little to the imagination. Strapped to her back was an archery set.

_'Her name is Artemis.'_ Jinx had an excellent memory, left over from her days at the HIVE Academy where they taught tactics and knowledge over brute force. She had the entire lexicon of the active superheroes and crime fighters in North America memorized. _'Associate of the Green Arrow.'_

They were standing across the room, Superboy and Nightwing had been with them, clustered in a little circle and chatting about old times. It had been so casual, so simple and innocent. They had been eating chocolate cake.

And that was part of the problem. Wally hadn't even eaten his. Instead his big blue eyes were focused entirely on the archers face. She could feel tension even from twenty feet away, and when Nightwing left with Superboy he had pushed his plate into his hands and stayed by the blonde woman's side.

It was a feeling like lead and deep in her bowel something twisted. He was running his gloved hand up her bare arm, but moving so slowly she could see the way the woman's skin shuttered with bumps. Wally's body was completely turned to her, his feet positioned, his shoulders square. Artemis was even leaning in towards him, though she had a smirk of a woman uninterested.

_'Playing hard to get. Good strategy.'_

Eight years they'd been together. Eight years and suddenly with a plate of uneaten cake and the feel of his gloves on another skin, Jinx knew it was the beginning of the end.

He'd never moved slowly. Not for any of his women, only ever for _her_. He even whispered with it in the darkness, reassured her over and over she'd only ever be the one. She was the only one ever worth seeing in slow motion.

_'Today is the day.'_

She didn't need him. Not anymore. She'd fallen into step as a crime fighter and proved battle after battle, year after year she was as dedicated to the cause as anybody else. Her past as a member of the HIVE was as buried as her old striped tights. She had friends now, loved ones even, and a sense of purpose beyond Wally West. Jinx had finally found the respect she fought so hard for a child, finally found her place. Even without Wally, she knew she'd never lose that.

In her dreams she'd always thought he'd be there. He came for her. He gave her roses.

_'Roses die, Jinx. Gardens turn brown and the people who tend them move on.'_

"Who's your friend?" The pink haired woman was nothing if not bold. She refused to hide, she refused to be ashamed. This was his issue, not hers and in a room full of the other superheroes and the Justice League she wouldn't take the knee and slip away.

Kid Flash snapped away from Artemis as if he was burned, his hand moving back down to his side so fast all Jinx could see was the traditional speed blur. He looked extremely guilty, as he always did when she caught him red handed.

"This is Artemis. She's a friend of Speedy's, works with the Green Arrow."

"I use too anyway." The blonde answered back, a flush across her cheeks. It was obvious she knew who Jinx was. It wasn't a secret to anybody Kid Flash's steady lover was a pink haired sorceress and nobody gossiped more then superheroes. Artemis refused to look at the witch straight faced. "I'm thinking about joining the Justice League's new team."

Jinx ignored the blonde, focusing instead on Wally. Her eyes were as hard as steel, though her face showed no emotion.

"What about you Kid, looking for new prospects?"


	4. First : Wanting

**Disclaimer: The Teen Titans and all affiliated mediums do not belong to me. **

**Thanks for all the reviews! They are definitely a lifeblood for creativity! And as always, keep me motivated to continue writing.  
**

* * *

Jinx knows she's dying.

She's buried in wet mud at the bottom of a ditch and bleeding out. There's sharp pain from the wounds to her side and the hand that's pressing against it isn't helping things much. There's blood everywhere and she wonders if it's her luck that made it rain or if it's just some kind of cosmic joke.

Jinx decides she doesn't care. She's too tired to laugh at the irony.

She feels cold.

Madam Rouge really did know how to hold a grudge. It's been over ten years since the mistress of misfortune placed the vid call that led the two females to meeting. For years before that though, a little pink haired girl followed data-books and old fighting footage from her dorm, building the cruel sharp shifter into a golden idol. That villain worship was the reason it was her personal frequency Jinx decided to call when Kid Flash was 'locked' within his 'containment unit' when they were children. The only thing the damn thing kept locked up was her unrealistic fantasies. The night ended with her sympathizing with a do-goody hero and hitting Madam Rouge with a wave of hex energy that cemented her into the woman's bad books.

Personally defeating her in Paris in the months to follow was the reason she'd been pushed to the top of that shit list. It had taken _ten_ years but finally the ageless French woman had found her opening for revenge.

She'd been going to buy groceries. You weren't allowed to _die_ because you were topping up the refrigerator. Forever she'd be remembered not as the hero who went down in a blaze of glory saving the world, but because Wally ran out of mustard. She'd be the laughing stock of the entire meta-human community. It was pathetic.

_'Well, at least I'll be dead.'_ She thought humorlessly. _'I won't have to listen to any of the ridicule.'_

When she was a kid she pictured her death somewhere dirty, filled with bad people who'd finally out maneuvered her. There was also at least six dead bodies burned with residue from her hexes in those fantasies. Criminals didn't live long, it was a fact, especially if they were at super villain level which had been her aim as a punk at Dark Way Prep.

Then she met Wally.

Things had changed. _Christ_, had things changed.

They were just kids, it shouldn't have worked. There was too much bullshit for it to work. She was a brat. Twisted with a decade of hurt, a rock bottom self-image and completely consumed by the negative effects of her powers.

And _him?_ Well, he was a golden-boy charmer who thought roses were the salvation of man kind. Everything was a damn joke, even when it wasn't, and nothing touched him because of his super speed. Not to mention the flirting, for the first year she must have put him down half a dozen times because of his wandering eye.

But it had worked.

He was _her_ hero. There was so much more then the ketchup and mustard uniform, the lightning bolt, the cocky speed. Those were parts of him she cherished, the parts the world loved him for but it had been the million other things, the small things, that made him so special.

It didn't matter how tired he was, if his patrol ended after a thirty hour stretch, the minute seven-thirty rolled around on Sunday morning he was wearing his cheesy apron flipping pancakes. His blue eyes, bright and proud every time she awkwardly stumbled her way through a press interview, hating the public attention but doing it anyway. It was his belief, quiet and subtle, always steady like a heartbeat. The Indian chocolates he hand delivered, his dorky love of science, the way he always had a joke ready to defuse a tense situation. The slope of his nose dusted with freckles that faded into his tan skin as he grew. He had terrible taste in music, but he could sing on key if he wanted. The boy went though about thirty pairs of socks per week, they damn near melted off his feet. It was his laugh. It was his heart. It was because Wally West was the best person she ever met in her life and somehow, he had picked _her_ to share it with.

No matter how bad things were at the end of everything, Jinx had _Wally_.

Despite turning her back of the criminal lifestyle and choosing to be 'good', Jinx wasn't weak. She'd never been weak. She was feared by the criminal populace, the power and strength of her hexes only growing as she learned balance and control. Her hand to hand combat honed even to take Nightwing off his feet a time or two. She still had no tolerance for stupidity, was never afraid to speak her mind or stick by her principals of doing what felt _right_, instead of what was always legal. Jinx wasn't _weak_.

But that didn't mean she didn't have weaknesses.

That silly redhead had become the final piece that undid her. If her sixteen year old self, throwing hexes and containment fields around could see her now she'd probably screech in shock.

It had been so simple. Madam Rouge had found out her schedule, waited until she strolled out alone and then come from the shadows wearing the face of her lover.

* * *

_"Kid, what are you doing?" Jinx asked, giving him an healthy eye-over. Kid Flash was leaning against the brickwork, giving her a charming smile decked out in full uniform. He was suppose to be at home taking a call from his uncle up on the Watchtower except he'd been frustrated. She wasn't surprised to find him here. At least he could help her carry the brown bags on the return trip. "You admitted defeat, huh? How did it go?"_

_"It went as planned." he said oddly formal, and Jinx's heart went out to him. The Flash was looking to retire and it was his darling 25 year old nephew who would take up the mantle once he settled down in Central City. They were ironing out details but it was taking a huge chunk out of him. Lately, Wally always just seemed run down. "Jinx." _

_He walked to her side and put his arm around her shoulder, pulling her tight to the side of his broad chest. Kid Flash had grown very tall, topping six foot though she remained at five-one inch. His grip was painfully tight on her upper arm. Jinx was out of uniform wearing a simple cotton t-shirt and could already feel the bruises. _

_"Hey Scarlet, lay up on the grip." She caught his movement out of the corner of her eye, his free hand slipping to her side, directly under her ribcage and brushing up against her. Jinx frowned then, seeing the motion of his solid arm. Normally, even in his affection, he was all speed motion and blurs. He was a skin tornado, all hands and quicker then air kisses. Jinx felt a cold weight in her stomach. "Ki-"_

_"Non. Not this time." A woman's voice whispered into her ear._

_A lightning thought burned through her brain. He hadn't used speed. Not even once. _

_Jinx gasped as Madam Rouge's fingers stretched and shaped like spears dug through the soft tissues and lean muscle of her side. It was slow enough where she felt the agonizing movement of every single inch. The other hand, suddenly clad in a leather glove as she switched back to her real form tightened the hold on her shoulder. _

_"I was frozen for three years." She continued, rotating the fingers now buried to the second knuckle in Jinx's internal structures. Jinx opened her mouth but all that came out was a thick spray of blood. "I finally found you, impressive, non?" The fingers slid out and suddenly her whole side was on fire. Pain and blood, but not fear. Madam Rouge was an enemy._

_Jinx wasn't going to go down without swinging. _

_"I should have t-thrown you in the Pacific. A bitch like you would sink straight to the bottom." Collecting whatever focus she could and whatever strength to stay on her feet she slammed her hand against the rubber woman, pushing every ounce of hex energy directly into her body. The road lit up with pink light._

_Madam Rouge let out a sharp shriek of pain and Jinx turned, dizzy, making it three steps before she collapsed to her knees throwing up another round of blood. She pressed her hand to her side hoping to help the bleeding. Madam Rouge's shoes clicked as she approached her, her strange rubbery body absorbing the shock that would have killed most people and coming out unharmed. _

_"Nice try, but I will not have you running away." Madam Rouge grabbed her left ankle, flicking aside the black bootlet and twisting the delicate bones with a snap. Jinx cried aloud this time, shrieking when Madam Rouge refused to remove her claw like grip from the shattered appendage. _

_"Fuck you!" Jinx cried weakly. She had no magic left, no ability to think. The ex-general of the Brotherhood was smirking, dragging her body across the tarmac. A long trail of blood followed the pair, Jinx drifting in and out of consciousness. One minute she was there and the next the deranged woman was standing over her, a booted foot positioned on one thigh._

_"I would like to stretch this out and show you true suffering but I will settle with your death." There were fingers on the pulse of her neck then. Her pink eyes rolled into the back of her head, her very last spark of magic miss directing her pulse point at that moment to deceive the villainess of her kill. "Nobody messes with __**me**__, stupid child."_

_Then she kicked her body over the edge of the steep embankment._

* * *

Wally wouldn't even know what happened. They'd just find her body in the upcoming days, and he'd be lost in his grief and his ignorance.

God, what else did he not know? What else didn't she tell him? She always thought she'd have more time. Wally had nothing but time. Why couldn't she just have one minute to explain. Fuck, fuck explaining, she just wanted him for one more minute.

She didn't do enough. She wasn't as affectionate as she should have been. She teased him too much, she spent too much time being crabby and hard edged. Why didn't she kiss him when she left the house? He'd been on the com but she could have just leaned over and pecked him, Barry wouldn't have minded. Jinx didn't, _she didn't_. She just left.

Jinx cried, helpless, hurting and covered in mud. The tears burned through the muck on her cheeks against her cold skin. She wanted to wipe away them away but her arms wouldn't move. Everything was getting fuzzy around the edges and she couldn't feel the stick that had been digging into her bad ankle anymore.

_"W-wally." _

It had been over a decade of growing and changing. Jinx wasn't that little kid anymore with arrogant dreams of world domination and absolute control. Things had become exceedingly simple.

All she wanted, was not to die alone.


	5. First : Midnight Stroll

**Author's Note:** Hey everybody reading this story, I apologize for the reconfiguration within it. I removed the Irey Trouble story and gave it it's own title. I was told it didn't really fit and thinking about it, I agreed. In the mean time though, I took down two chapters so I had to put one back up. I hope you enjoy Midnight Stroll.

If anybody wants to message or send in reviews with prompts I'd love to try my hand at it. Anything that you can do or have with somebody for the first time. Thanks a bunch and I hope to hear from you!

**Disclaimer: I don't own the Teen Titans or any of it's characters. **

* * *

"Alright princess, give me all your money!" The thug demanded, a switchblade in his fist.

"Are you robbing me?" Jinx asked stunned, standing on the corner with a duffel bag in a loose hand. "Me? Are you crazy?"

"Just give us your stuff and we won't hurt you." The second added. He had what she supposed was an intimidating sneer on his ugly mug. The two of them were much taller then her, muscles and limbs thrice bigger on the round then her own lithe body parts.

Jinx stood in stunned silence, mouth falling open. She had been living in this neighborhood well over a year. One of the condemned buildings just half a block down was the front of the HIVE's underground base and everyone knew that this area was the turf of the Five. These two dumb thugs were no doubt aware of Jinx and her reputation of being the HIVE's leader. A few weeks ago they'd be on their knees paying tribute.

Except now, they didn't know her.

"Listen bitch, just hand over the bag!"

"Bitch?" Jinx hunched deeply into the shadows of her normal civilian jacket, letting the glow of her pink eyes light up the plains of her thin face. "Do you have any idea who you're talking to?"

"Oh god," the first one gasped, tripping over his motorcycle boots. He pointed at Jinx wildly as if she was some kind of strange wild creature. It did not improve her mood. "I didn't know! You don't look the same."

A part of leggings and a leather skirt were all it took to erase fifteen years of criminal activity, huh?

Jinx lifted her fists furious, pink energy erupting in waves from her fingertips. The switchblade crumbled in a shower of rust flakes as the concrete beneath their feet erupted into rubble. The two men went down in terrified screams, swallowed by the sidewalk and falling into the opened caverns of the sewer system underneath Jump.

"The pink hair didn't give it away, you cretins?" Jinx shouted, snatching her duffel bag off the ground and leaving the two stupid would-be muggers up to their necks in shit. Turning tail Jinx stomped away, grumbling about respect and the lack of it.

A gust of wind and a red rose in her hand forced Jinx to stop on the corner of the next block.

"I don't condone the property damage but that was pretty sweet."

Kid Flash stood with his hands on his hips. He had on flirty smile number four. So far she had categorized seven Kid Flash smiles in total.

"Why are you still following me?" Jinx sighed.

It had been three weeks since she helped Kid Flash escape from Madam Rouge and he hadn't left her alone a single day since. There were roses all over the place, blurs of yellow and red and gusts of wind. He was always there at any potential heist, lounging in her bedroom as she came into her room from a info plotting session, leaving little notes inside her sketch book or bathroom mirror.

"Not a lot of action these days." he bragged, mock casual as he overlooked his gloved red fist. "I almost didn't know it was you. I was looking for horns." He motioned above his own head in large peaks.

Was it a damn conspiracy?

Her pink hair was loose and down over her shoulders, a simple black headband separating her bangs from bulk of the cotton candy pink strands. Her black witchy dress was replaced with a fashionable purple wool coat, large buttons closing the collar tight to her neck. A peak of a leather skirt, tight leggings and slouch boots completed the civvie look. Jinx was trying to leave town. She couldn't exactly jump on a damn Greyhound in her villain costume and blend in. She didn't exactly leave herself with a lot of options!

"I'm still me!" she screamed at him, throwing an elbow into his stomach and wincing when it connected with hard muscle. Kid Flash laughed, steadying her as she fell back expectantly. He was a lot more solid then his wiry thin frame would suggest."Dammit!"

"I know you're you, I was just teasing. It's just a coat. You do look nice with your hair down though."

"Tell that to those guys! They tried to rob me. ME!" She refused to think about his compliment and the strange butterflies in her stomach. It was much easier to go back to indignation. Jinx pushed away from Kid Flash and shot him her very best frown trying to hide her frustration. "You made me into a damn joke. I was the leader of the HIVE Five and now stupid losers who would have given me tribute a month ago are pulling knives on me."

Kid Flash had the indecency to look _happy _about it.

"That doesn't make you a joke, Jinx."

"It means I don't have any damn respect!"

What could he get anyway? He was a hero. He had his whole golden life delivered to him a glittery platter. He was the apprentice of the Flash from the damn Justice League for the love of the Unholy. They probably threw goddamn parties in his honor the day he donned the suit!

Kid Flash couldn't understand what it was like to be a nobody and have to climb the ladder all on your own, and just on the merit of your own powers and reputation.

"I respect you."

His blue eyes were almost translucent and his voice very soft.

Jinx felt herself stop. She could feel everything. The soft lining of her coat on her bare arms, the weight of her duffel bag across her shoulder. The steady pressure of his fingers as he held her elbow in a firm grip. The chill of the cool night air against her hot cheeks.

"You said you _were_ the leader of the HIVE Five. That means you left. You're finally thinking about what other choices there are for you. I respect you for that."

"You don't even know me."

Why was she so tired all of a sudden?

"I know some things." Kid Flash was all casual again, numbering off his points with his fingers. There was a light flush on his exposed cheeks. "I know you like sketching, that you're good at it. I know you're a natural athlete." She could feel the dip of his eyes to her long legs. He was such a boy. "I know that you really are better then your criminal lifestyle. And I know that right now you're lost."

"I know exactly where I am. This is the corner of East Road and Jasper Avenue."

Now Kid Flash rolled his eyes. He fell in step beside her as she continued to walk. It must have looked strange, Jinx thought. He was all dressed up in his mustard and ketchup uniform by the side of a mostly normal looking girl. There weren't any criminals about for him to stop, no crime at all in fact. There was no tragic war or attack. They were simply talking.

"Wait!" Jinx's eyes widened. "You're actually walking...as in _walking_."

"I want to talk to you." he bounced like a small child. "Not all of you normal meta humans are as cool as I am. Using your legs to _walk_." He vanished out of sight for a moment and was back literally a second later, another one of his french pastry bags in hand. He took out a big croissant and started munching on it as she fixed her wind swept hair.

"You're such a show off."

"I try." he held out the half eaten pastry. "Want some?"

"No!"

Kid Flash polished off the pastry on his own and they fell in step. The silence was comfortable and easy. She knew they should have been enemies, part of her knew she could no longer call him that.

"Where you going anyway?"

"I don't know. Train station."

"After that?"

"...anywhere I guess. Probably a big city, I can blend in when there's more people." she indicated her odd features and colouring.

"You should go to Keystone City."

"What's in Keystone City?" she asked him, watching him throw his pastry bag in a nearby trash can. Everything about him was graceful lines, even if he appeared to be an idiot. It seemed like motion was just built into his hardware whether he was going fast or not. She was a gymnast, it was just basic fact she'd appreciate beautiful lines. Or at least she could tell herself that.

It had nothing to do with how he looked in that tight spandex suit. Nothing at _all_.

"I am. That's my home base."

"Real modest, Kid." Jinx laughed aloud, not at all surprised at his suggestion. "I didn't realize you were in such a rush to arrest me. Now you can do it on your home turf."

"I wouldn't arrest you, Jinxy. You'd have to commit crimes for that and you haven't even jinxed a vending machine since Madam Rouge."

"That's because I'm plotting something _big_. I don't have the time to do the foot work right now."

Kid Flash snorted.

_'More like every time I try it's your stupid face I see in my mind.'_ She wasn't going to tell him that. Or the truth. After meeting Madam Rouge and realizing with absolute clarify how much of a raving bitch her role model turned out to be really knocked some of the wind out of her sails. It was a known fact that Rouge was a master thief and a true killer, having no problem wiping her enemies clear off the planet. Jinx wanted to be respected but she didn't want to be a lunatic either. She didn't want to _kill_ anybody.

She also wouldn't tell him that she actually was beginning to _enjoy_ his daily interruptions. Kid Flash was kind of funny in a dorky sort of way. No matter how mean she was to him he always came back smiling. It didn't hurt that he actually listened to her either. No one before had ever done that.

"Your hero brain wouldn't be able to comprehend the truth depth of my evil genius." she told him instead, covering her butt.

Another batch of silence. When she saw smears of shadows ahead of her, two people coming down the block she turned to Kid Flash and saw he was gone.

"Didn't say goodbye. Jerk."

"No name calling. It hurts my feelings."

"Ah!"

"Ha! I scared you, mighty villainess."

"You're such a nerd!" Jinx shook her head, pushing against him with her free hand. She still had his rose. When her hand touched against the yellow of his suit she watched the fabric start to smoke beneath her fingers. Her eyes widened comically and she whipped her hand away, yanking the burning glove away from her skin. It burst into flame as it hit the concrete and Jinx stomped it out flat with her boot.

"Did you just try to light me on fire?" There was a scorch mark near his lightning bolt and Jinx felt the deep flush on her cheeks. Kid Flash looked to her with amusement. "All you have to say is I'm hot, babe. No flames required."

"Shut up." she snapped back, giving him a half hearted push. She could feel the burning redness of her own face. She'd never admit to the smooth talking redhead but her powers fluctuated with her emotions. The more she allowed herself to feel, the more it reacted and just _came_ out.

_'What the hell._' The witch groaned, _'Why is this happening now?'_

"Aw, Jinx. Don't be like that. I don't mind if you heat things up a little."

"Stop with the puns."

_'It had nothing to do with way he was looking at her.'  
_

He was hiding something.

They were walking out of her shittier neighborhood now, switching into the trendy student-area surrounding Jump City University. Jinx let the silence come between them again, not bothering to insult him anymore. It was kind of peaceful and the pinkette didn't even mind the stares of the odd person who swooned or waved to Kid Flash. He barely paid them any attention, his big blue eyes looked spacey and far away.

They were only a few blocks from the Train station when he caught her elbow.

"Jinx. The Titans got a hold of me today. They said they're headed for Tokyo. Things with the Brotherhood are getting worse."

Jinx stopped herself from reacting, though flashes of vid calls danced through her mind on a time loop. Madam Rouge calling back just the night before and demanding their recruitment. The HIVE Five were to be deployed at the end of the week for Europe.

Had Kid Flash found out about that call? Did he think-

"And you're telling me because?" she drawled instead. She didn't want him to know about that call and she didn't know why. It wasn't any of his damn business who contacted the HIVE's work line. She was still technically a villain.

"I wanted to make sure you were okay." Kid Flash told her. "I also wanted to make sure you were still here."

"Still here?"

"Jinx, I won't pretend to know everything about you." His voice was all business, it was probably the most serious she'd ever heard him. It caught her attention like his flirting and his jokes never had. "I know that I don't want you there, caught up with them."

"Kid Flash."

"Something is going down baby and it's bound to get bad." He squeezed her elbow, leaning in close to her. So close she could smell the scent of his aftershave. He was looking at her as if he never saw her before, and Jinx felt the beating of her heart like thunder. "Go anywhere you want, Jinx, but don't go to the Brotherhood. They're not playing games this time. You could get hurt."

A beat of long silence, and then quicker then she could see but not so fast she couldn't feel it there was a brush of soft lips against her cheek. His voice was nothing but a whisper. It didn't sound like Kid Flash at all. Maybe instead it was the red headed boy underneath that mask she had yet to meet. She couldn't breath.

"I need you to be safe, Jinx."Another beat of time and Kid Flash was halfway down the block, giving her a huge over exaggerated wave and blown air kisses. "I'll find you, slowpoke!"

Jinx blinked, willing her skin to stop crawling but Kid Flash was already gone. It took her a moment, but she picked up her duffel dropped sometime in that out of time exchange and continued on her way.

_'To be safe, huh? With that bi-polar psycho?'_

What the hell did that mean? She was a villain. A criminal and been around violent people and dangerous schemes since she was a toddler. The thugs came back to her mind, their useless weapons and big boy taunts that accounted for nothing. They didn't know her face.

Things were already changing.

"Where to sweetheart?" The attendant at the train station asked when she walked up to the counter. The platforms were mostly deserted seeing as it was the middle of the night. Jinx dug into her pockets, withdrawing a bundle of rolled up cash she'd tucked away from her last job.

_'What the hell, I can always whip him in a fight.'_

"Keystone City, one-way." she said back to the attendant, sliding across the money.


End file.
